You First
by Craycrayskittlez
Summary: Éponine knew a lot of things, she knew the number of steps from her apartment to the bus stop, she knew that she hated her job at a cafe. She didn't know that she would get fired. Enjolras knew that he loved adventure, anything from mountain-climbing to bungee jumping. He knew that he loved his girlfriend very much. He didn't know that an accident would leave him unable to walk.
1. Chapter 1

Éponine sighed and continued to draw random doodles in her notebook. She was working a four hour shift in a small café that hardly ever got any customers. Only a few a day and it was always the same people, unless it was tourists asking for directions.

"Hey Ep," her boss said, very obviously looking at her in the uniform that he made her wear. It had a very low-cut top and a very short skirt. Her boss was a middle-aged man who constantly flirted with her, which was incredibly creepy because he was old enough to be her dad and married with three kids.

"Hi Ted," Éponine replied awkwardly.

"What're yeh drawin' there darlin'?" he asked, trying to look at her notebook and stepping very close to her.

"Uh, nothing really…" Éponine replied quickly, trying to cover her drawings. She may have been drawing him with devil horns.

"Come on, lemme see," he demanded, sounding a lot harsher. He grabbed her notebook from her and flicked through the pages. "Haha, the devil ones funny," he sniggered.

"Thanks," Éponine muttered, trying to hide the fact that it was him.

"It's glasses even look like mine! Ha!" he pointed out, his booming laughter echoing around the walls of the empty café.

"So, was there anything you wanted?" Éponine asked, desperately changing the subject.

"Ah yes, yer fired," he told her, scratching his nearly bald head.

"What! Why?" she screamed. _This couldn't be happening. She found it hard enough to get work. She had dropped out of high school to care for her little brother and sister. _

"Business is slow and I can't afford to pay yeh any longer," he answered bluntly.

"No, please, you can't do this," she pleaded, her chocolate brown eyes brimming with tears. She had hardly any money as it was.

"Well, I s'pose we could come to an agreement," he said suggestively, smirking at her.

"Fine, I'll do anything," she sighed. _This was for her brother and sister. She needed money for them._

He leant in and grabbed her face in an extremely uncomfortable way so that she couldn't move at all. He then began to kiss her aggressively, pushing her down on the counter and running his hand up her skirt before pulling it off. He then wormed his hand up her top and unhooked her bra, taking it off and throwing it away.

She couldn't do it.

"No," she muttered, trying to pull away, "stop, please, I can't."

"No can do missy," he replied moving his mouth down her neck, biting it roughly.

"Stop!" she screeched. When it became clear he wouldn't stop, she kneed him in the sore spot and ran.

"You're fired!" was the last thing she heard as she ran out into the street.

* * *

"Happy birthday, baby" Monica told her boyfriend, Enjolras, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"Thanks," he replied, giving her a wide grin.

It was his 23rd birthday and they were going skiing in Switzerland. Monica was paying as his birthday present. She also bought him a gold watch. They were both extremely wealthy. Enjolras was a very successful lawyer and Monica owned a business.

"I'll meet you at the airport later, yeah?" she asked.

She began to get changed and put on too much makeup as she did every day. She was very pretty, despite wearing too much makeup. She had long blonde hair, vivid green eyes, light freckles on her nose and a slim face. She was the traditional kind of pretty.

Enjolras was very handsome, he had blonde hair and gleaming blue eyes. He loved adventure and would go mountain climbing, bungee jumping and the like often. He loved sport and excelled in football and basketball. He also enjoyed tennis.

They were, as many people noted, the perfect couple. They were both madly in love with each other.

"Yeah, I'll see you there," Enjolras said, beaming at her.

"Great, so I'll see y—" she began to reply, but was stopped by Enjolras' lips.

"Have I told you how beautiful you are?" he asked her, smirking.

"Only a few million times," she replied, smirking back.

"Well you are exceptionally beautiful today," he told her.

"Why thank you, Enjolras," she replied, "but I really gotta go now, bye baby."

"Bye," he called out to her as she left his bedroom.

He then got dressed and after a few hours went outside to get a taxi to the airport.

Once he got out at the airport, he stood on the road for a moment as the taxi drove off, darting his eyes around searching for Monica. He saw her and waved. "Mon!" he called and she turned around and beamed at him.

"Enjy!" she shouted back, using her pet name that she gave him. He hated it but he let her call her it because he loved her.

He remained standing there, getting caught up in the moment. Suddenly, the happiness in her face changed to something else. Fear? Horror? Despair? Before he had time to process anything.

"Enjolras! Behind you! Move!"

He turned behind him and saw bright lines coming towards him. A huge force pushed him onto the cold road.

"Enjolras!"

Then it went black.

* * *

**A/N**

So what did you guys think? Should I continue or not? Please leave a review!


	2. Chapter 2

As Éponine walked down the road in the pouring rain, in only her low-cut uniform top and knickers. She was freezing cold and had no idea where she was, it was late at night by now and she had been walking around for a long time so it was now extremely dark. She began to walk faster, seeing a bus stop to take her back to her apartment. Her walk sped up even more and before she knew it she was running. She stood there for what felt like 3 hours (but was more likely 3 minutes) until the bus came.

"Hey, so can I get to—" Éponine began to ask, but was interrupted by the bus driver.

"Look, no harm to you, missy," he began, pausing as if not knowing what to say, "but I don't want any trouble on this bus," he explained, looking judgementally at her lack of clothing and running mascara.

"Sir, please. I don't know where I am, I just need to get home. Please," she begged.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you," he said, genuinely looking guilty.

"Well fuck you then!" she cursed at him, angrily walking away. She looked at the bus timetables to work out where she was, then walked in what she guessed was the direction of her apartment.

* * *

Enjolras woke up to bright lights.

"Mon? Mon?" he called, trying to sit up. "Monica!" he called, again trying to sit up. His face grew pale as he remembered what happened, the headlights coming towards him, being frown to the ground. _Monica's face… _He looked down to his legs, puzzled as to why he couldn't sit up. He had a bad feeling, he touched his right leg, then his left. _Nothing. _He squeezed them both gently. _Nothing. _He squeezed harder. _Nothing. _He angrily started to punch his legs, punching as hard as he possibly could. _Nothing! _

"Monica!" I shouted another time.

A woman walked into the room, but it wasn't Monica. It was a nurse. She had curly ginger hair and bright amber eyes. She also wore a nametag with 'Rachel' on it.

"Mr Enjolras…" she greeted nervously when she entered the room, she gave him a small smile which he guessed he was supposed to find comforting.

"I can't feel my legs," he panted. "I can't… I can't move them."

"I'm so sorry," she said, walking into his hospital room and closing the door behind her. "The doctors say you probably won't be able to walk again," she informed him, walking beside his bed and placing a box of tissues on top of a set of drawers beside his bed. "However, there are certain treatments that we could try… but they are expensive and…"

"Anything. I'll pay anything, please. I need to walk again, I need to," Enjolras pleaded, his voice full of pitiful desperation.

"And," Rachel continued from where she left off, "there is only a 10 per cent chance of it working."

"No… No, no, no, noo…" he cried, covering his face with his hands.

"I'm so sorry," Rachel consoled.

"Where's Monica?" he asked.

"Oh your girlfriend!" she beamed, "she's very pretty, don't let her go."

"I don't plan to," Enjolras smirked.

"I'll bring her in now," she said, leaving the room.

"Enjolras!" he heard Monica scream as she came in.

"Mon, they said I won't walk again, but I can, I promise. I swear I will," Enjolras told her.

"Enjolras you can't," she told him. He noticed how red her face was as if she had been crying for a long time.

"How long was I out?"

"You were hit by a car Enjolras, on your birthday too. I was so scared Enjy… I was so scared, I didn't know what to do. I phoned an ambulance and I came here with you, I didn't leave. You were unconscious for five days," she replied.

"I will walk again and we'll both go skiing like we were supposed to and I'm going to go back to work and sue that guy," Enjolras informed her.

Monica started to cry again.

"I can't do it! I'm so sorry Enjy, but I can't handle this. I just can't deal with it," she sobbed.

"What? No Mon, don't do this."

"I'm so sorry. I just can't handle it!"

"I got hit by a fucking car and now I can't fucking walk and _you _can't handle it!"

"I can't do this."

Enjolras looked down at his arm and saw that he was still wearing the gold watch she had given him. The mere sight of it disgusted him, so he ripped it from his arm and threw it at Monica.

"Get the fuck out then!" he screamed. The veins in his neck sticking out.

"I'm so sorry!" repeated Monica for the hundredth time before she ran out of the room.

After she left, Rachel came back into the room. "She's not even that pretty," she said with a small smile. "You could do so much better." She gave his arm a small squeeze.

"I want the operation."

"You sure honey?"

"I'm surer than I've ever been."

* * *

**A/N**

Hey guys! Sorry these chapters are so short, but these are more like prologues and the next chapter will skip a lot of time and the chapters will get longer. Please tell me if you'd rather it skip time and get right to the main story, or if you'd like to see more chapters like this.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**

I'm going to be writing in Éponine's POV now, but if you ever want me to write in anyone else's POV then just tell me and I'll see what I can do!

* * *

_Two Years Later_

I sat at my kitchen table, reading the newspaper for job ads. Ever since being fired from the café, I've never had any stable jobs. I worked in a fast food joint for a while, but got fired after customer complaints about me gagging when handing them their food. I hadn't meant to, but if you saw what went into that food, you would get it.

I also worked in a number of cafés, but the truth is; I never was very good at my job. I was constantly dropping plates and spilling glasses or tripping over things and falling over. I just wasn't good at things like that.

I lived in an apartment by myself. I used to live with my parents, brother and sister, but once I turned 18 I got out of there as soon as I could. I tried to bring Gavroche and Azelma, my brother and sister, but I couldn't. My parents wouldn't let me take them to live in my apartment and when I tried to sneak them away, my parents came after me and threatened me unless I left them all alone.

I know I may sound crazy, but let me explain. We used to be really rich, we owned a B&B and everything. Not some crummy one either, but a really good one. I had expensive clothes and more toys than I could count. One day, a woman who was probably in her 20s came with a girl about 5 (the same age I was) I don't remember much, but she left the girl with us and paid us to keep her. She sent us a lot of money for things for her daughter. It was great and we were wonderful friends. She was called Cosette and she had pretty blonde hair and bright blue eyes. However, after a while of her living with us (only about a week) my parents started to treat her badly, starving her and making her do far too many chores. It made me very upset and when I asked my mother about it she said that she was "beneath" me and that I shouldn't talk to her. I listened to her, because I was young and I had been raised to just listen.

When I was about 8, a man came and paid us money to take her away. So he went off with her and we never saw her again. After that, we went bankrupt and had to sell the B&B. Things got even worse from there and we had to live on the streets for a long time until we got some horrible apartment with some of the roof broken off and it had bugs everywhere, which terrified Azelma.

I lived there with them until I was 18.

I couldn't find any ads so I decided to go back to the job advice centre where I had went to get all of my previous jobs.

* * *

"Miss Thenardier, you have been coming here for almost two years, you know that you need to just stick with a job or you can't continue to come here. You are wasting my time and there are other people who need our services," the man said, clicking his tongue.

"I know, I'm sorry," I tell him.

"And you don't have many qualifications…"

"I know, I know, but I'll take anything."

"There is one opening, carer and companion for disabled man," he says proudly, looking up at me from his papers.

"Oh I don't know… I don't think I can take care of someone like that," I say nervously.

"But I'll take anything!" he mocks. "Can you drive?"

"Yes, but would I have to wipe his bottom?" I ask nervously I am _not _going to wipe some old man's bottom.

"No bottom wiping required as far as I can tell," he looked back down at his papers. "He's a quadriplegic and he needs someone in the daylight hours to help feed and assist. Usually in jobs like this, it's more a case of just being there when they want to go somewhere and helping with basic needs. Oh and it pays well. Quite a lot more than the minimum wage."

"That's probably because it involves bottom-wiping," I retort.

"I'll ring them to confirm the absence of bottom wiping, but if there is none, I will inform them that you'll go along for the interview," he tells me without giving me a choice.

I sigh and pick up my bag ready to go home.

* * *

The next day I go to the house of the old man.

The house is _huge, _I suppose these people can afford to pay me a lot. As I walk towards the door I see a woman in a nurse uniform leaving the house.

"Ah hello, you must be Miss Thenardier," an older woman greets me as I knock on the door. "I'm Mrs Armath, come in."

"So I came here for the carer position for your husband," I say as I sit down in the living room.

"My husband? Oh, goodness no!" she exclaims, "it's my son."

"Your… Your son?" I stutter, not able to hide my shock. "How… How old is he? Your son, I mean."

"25," she replies. _25 and unable to walk. How horrible would that be? He's only two years older than me, what if I couldn't walk? _I shudder at the thought.

"Now, how long have you been a carer?" she asks.

"Um, I'm not a carer," I admit sheepishly.

"Qualifications?" she asks after writing something down in a notebook.

I tell her while looking down at my feet.

Again, she writes something down in her notebook, pursing her lips. "Skills?"

"Uh, none really…" I tell her.

"No skills? No skills at all?" she asks, looking very impatient.

"Well I worked in a café, so I make a mean cup of tea!" I say with as much enthusiasm as I can muster.

"No carer experience, no qualifications, no skills, but you make a mean cup of tea," she says and she makes it sound even more pathetic than I thought. "Why should I hire you instead of that woman who has just left and has ten years' experience with quadriplegics?"

"Well I'm responsible, hard-working and…" I begin to say, but I just stop myself when I realise that I'm not helping.

"Do you know what that means?"

"That he's in a wheelchair, right?"

"Basically. He has a spinal cord injury and is unable to move his lower body and has restricted hand and arm movement."

"Oh…" I trail off, not knowing what to say.

"Can you start tomorrow?" she asks, her steely eyes piercing through me.

"Ok, I'm sorry for wasting your time…" I mutter, getting off the sofa and starting to walk off. Then I pause, suddenly realising what she just said. "Wait what? Oh my god are you serious!?" I say, probably screaming.

"I'm serious," she states, already looking like she regrets her decision.

"Thank you so much!" I squeal, going over to give her a hug. I stop when she tenses, appearing very awkward. "Sorry…"

"Would you be able to work every day, from 9am to 5.30 pm?"

"Yep," I answer, putting emphasis on the p.

"You cannot leave him for any more than 15 minutes, or else may harm himself," she informs me.

"Harm himself?" I ask, confused. _What does she mean, harm himself?_

"Tomorrow I will give you a tour around of the house," she continues, ignoring my question.

"What do you mean, harm himself?" I repeat, not permitting her to ignore me.

"You won't need any medical experience, all that we need is someone to keep him company and keep his spirits up," she explains, again ignoring my question.

"I think I can do that," I tell her, trying to appear positive. _Harm himself? Keep his spirits up? I'm not prepared for this._

"Good," she states, "so I'll introduce you tomorrow."

"Shouldn't I meet him now?" I ask.

"Oh no, he's having a bad day today," she says.

"Oh, okay. What's his name though?" I ask.

"Enjolras."


End file.
